Had no issues crossing the river at Whitesburg, although there were more cars than I would have thought early on a Sunday morning. The roads around Carrollton were very quiet, and pretty hilly as expected. First route error(if you can call it that) had me going through the Carrollton land application area(sewage treatment spraying directly on the land) right after the Little Tallapoosa river. They weren't on and I wasn't worried I would see anyone since it was Sunday, and I had a nice trip through the property on gravel. After that, while still in Carroll county. Old Jacksonville road had a bridge at some time in the past but it was gone completely, and the roadbed after the road closed signs was very overgrown with vines, blackberry bushes, and privet. I made my way down the bank to the creek and forded my first creek on foot with my brand new pair of Sidis. The other side was very dense privet and it took a few minutes to go a hundred feet or so to the other road closed sign, and then the road out opened up. It obviously wasn't maintained, and I thought for sure it would be gated closed at some point, but where it met the pavement again there was only a closed road sign and no gates or any other signs. Not long after I had to be on highway 16 heading towards hwy 100 and the junction with I-20. It was completely deserted and a pleasant ride. I stopped at the first store pretty early(about mile 58) because there wouldn't be a store for more than 60 miles. Just inside Alabama, there was a closed metal bridge over the Tallapoosa. I found it amazing that the descent to the bridge was totally open with nothing blocking the way except a 6ft deep pit dug right at the edge of the bridge approach to stop cars from driving on it. No warning at all. It was deep enough that I couldn't pull myself and the bike up. I hooked my bars on the bridge with the bike in the air, and shimmied up the edge of the concrete then pulled my bike up by the bars. The bridge was in pretty good shape, it still had asphalt over the decking, and lots of graffiti. It sat really high over the river and the sound of the water rushing under dominated the soundscape. The other end of the bridge wasn't nearly as high up above the pit, and if I were a bit more of a risk taker I could have ridden the extremely narrow trail from the very corner of the bridge onto the mound of the pit and the other side. But it was super narrow and one false move meant you'd fall down the other side of the mound 10 or so feet. So I walked it. On through the tiny town of Muscadine after watching a train go by, and indeed there were lots of vineyards. North through the eastern edge of Alabama on lightly travelled pavement, and then eventually I found more gravel along a series of fairly narrow ridgelines. I did a super long dead end gravel road that unceremoniously ended at a driveway and a private hunting club gate that conveniently(for them) blocks access to a small sliver of Talladega National Forest. Just another example of how private citizens claim public land for themselves and get away with it. This road previously connected to one road over(via a creek ford) on the old USGS topo maps. Sad. Anyway I turned around and rode out, enjoyed the very well maintained gravel and continued on County road 91 north, and the maintenance stopped completely. It felt like East Alabama for sure, as it had all the fixin's: large mudholes, deep red clay, and more natural rock and mountainside supporting the roadbed than quarried rock. The road steeply descended to Terrapin creek where I was presented with a very rocky and quite wide ford with two options. I chose to carry the bike through rather than get my chain wet, and the creek was actually pretty cool in the middle of the day and it felt good. I chose the wrong fork and it was actually pretty funny wading through relatively slick rocks with my brand new shoes. I managed just fine without falling over and it reminded me of wading through rivers and creeks in North GA and WNC. I made it to the other side and was presented with a very challenging steep climb with very washed out bits and huge rocks, and parts of the road that were just the bare rock of the mountainside. I must say I was pleased with myself at cleaning all of it without having to dab at all. What followed was a narrow ridgeline and poorly maintained dirt/gravel road that reminded me a lot of Pinnacle Mountain road in Henderson county NC. It took awhile but eventually well into Georgia the road improved and the gravel became more maintained, transitioned to pavement, and finally I was able to descend towards Rockmart on a ripping great downhill off Paris Mountain. This opened up to a really beautiful valley with old farmhouses set amongst vast pastures with sweeping views of the mountains. I was really ready for a store stop in town, and was a little bit behind on water but not by a whole lot. I creeped up a ridiculously steep street that climbed to another small mountain behind the street grid of Rockmart, then came down blazingingly fast right to the Dollar General at the bottom. I took time to eat a bag of chips while I filled bottles and drank a coke, and got going without too much delay. In the south part of town I had originally planned to work my way along the streets beside the highway and then make my way to the Silver Comet trail. But there was a street that had water covering the road at least a foot deep so I backtracked and got on the trail via an informal path from a street that came very close. I got off at Coots Lake road and did a loop up to Braswell, a long gradual climb on pavement. Rode back over the famous tunnel on the Silver Comet on Brushy mountain road, which was a lot of fun, also pavement though. A long series of fun hilly roads along the Paulding/Haralson county line followed. every time I veered back into Paulding county there was a sign, which added up quick. I must have seen ten. Haralson county didn't have hardly any marking the line. I did get one once I rolled into Carroll county. But before that I stopped at a Dollar General in Draketown which is just a collection of a few houses at a crossroad. Last time I was there was 11 years ago on a ride to Rockmart, and there was nothing. It was actually pretty nice to have a store right on the route. I grabbed a coke and an ice cream sandwich and ate it under the shade of a decent sized grove of bald cypress planted as landscaping next to the store. Soon after, the glorious ruralness and lack of traffic stopped and I was basically right back into exurbanville... It's funny because the landscape looks basically the same, farms and pastures, forests, not many visible houses, but for some reason there just seemed to be cars everywhere, no matter how narrow, curvy or out of the way the road was. Just a super spread out living arrangement that requires everyone to drive a lot of miles for everything they need. Every time I ride in Carroll county I am struck by this. Reminds me a lot of Coweta county which is pretty much already ruined by urbanity dotted sporatically throughout the landscape all higglety-pigglety. Anyway I survived the gauntlet of F-150s and oversized SUVs and was very happy to turn off my brief jaunt on Bankhead highway and get back onto gravel on the way back to the Chattahoochee again. Crossing was pretty uneventful, and I was at peace again on the Dirty Sheets of Chattahoochee Hills. I still had a bit of tailwind from the west that pushed me along on Wilkerson Mill, and I was running out of water so I decided to stop at Tyrone or the church across from the Fairburn Yard on Gullatt road if there wasn't anyone there. It was deserted so I filled a bottle with the cold well water from their faucet which tasted awesome. Made it home well before dark without issue.